Eliminating Distractions

When man’s primary job was to find a way to eat each day, distractions were probably not a big deal. Primitive man had no facebook, no twitter, no IM, no cell phone. He just had a rumbling in his stomach and the grim realization that either he found some food or he and possibly his family wouldn’t make it past winter.

Well, evolution has given us many wonderful things, but as Thoreau once said “You never gain something but that you lose something.” In other words, when humanity discovered the car, we gained all kinds of wonderful things like being able to travel long distances, but we also lost the joy of just walking to get where we needed to.

And so it is with the Internet. We gain incredible knowledge, access, communication, and most amazing of all rapid sharing of information and ideas. But now we’ve lost the simplicity that prior generations had. Distractions are literally assaulting you all day long.

The purpose of this post is just to admit the problem and link to a new book by Leo Babauta (whom I’ve previously read and enjoyed) on the subject of simplicity in a world full of distractions. The book is simply called “Focus” and you should download a PDF that is completely free (and amazingly uncopyrighted).

Enjoy!